Toronto Star – Ontario failing to protect cyclists, pedestrians

Your father is struck and killed when a car veers across the oncoming lane and into his path. The police charge the motorist (who was trying to unhook her sandal from the gas pedal) with careless driving under the Highway Traffic Act (HTA). Months later you attend court. The prosecutor and driver’s representative have negotiated a $500 fine for a lesser offence of “leave road not in safety.” The motorist isn’t even in court to hear the victim impact statement, which you struggle to read: “We hope that we will wake up, and it will all have been a bad dream.”

This very scenario, involving cyclist Bruce Tushingham, took place in Markham, Ont., not so long ago. Lamentably, the outcome is hardly unusual.

To read the full article in the Toronto Star – Ontario failing to protect cyclists, pedestriansclick here.

Marie Smith is past president of the United Senior Citizens of Ontario. J. Patrick Brown and Albert Koehl served on the expert panel for the Ontario Chief Coroner’s 2012 review of pedestrian and cyclist deaths. Brown is representing the Tushinghams in a civil suit against the driver.

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